Whitehall has begun overhauling England’s environmental approvals to get shovels in the ground faster — a shift that could shave months off the early stages of construction in the capital if it works as billed. The programme spans a modernised environmental permitting regime, a new system of environmental assessment to replace EIA, and a push to fast-track decisions on nationally significant schemes. Ministers frame the package as “streamlining” rather than weakening standards, but campaigners warn of risks if speed comes at nature’s expense.
At the core is a plan to update the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations — the framework that governs consents for site activities such as dewatering, ground remediation, flood-risk works and certain waste operations common at the start of London schemes. DEFRA and the Environment Agency say the reforms will simplify routes to permission, reduce duplication between agencies and use clearer, risk-based rules. A public consultation launched this autumn sets out options following the independent Corry Review, with the aim of creating a “proportionate” permitting system that still protects air, land and water.
In parallel, the Environment Agency has begun an internal overhaul of how permits are processed. Its Accelerated Permitting Transformation programme reports performance improvements of “20%+” over two years and a halving of backlogs — incremental changes that, if sustained, could quicken routine green-light decisions for enabling works across London.
The assessment side is changing too. The government is replacing EU-derived Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment with Environmental Outcomes Reports (EORs) created under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act. Draft guidance argues that outcome-based tests will be “simpler and clearer”, cutting document length and costs while keeping protections — potentially making scoping and baseline work for urban projects less onerous. Professional bodies note that success will depend on the detail of the regulations and how inspectors apply them.
For the largest projects touching London — rail, energy, river and highway upgrades — the government is also redesigning the “fast-track” route in the nationally significant infrastructure regime. A new infrastructure board, pilot single-environmental-regulator models and looser eligibility criteria are proposed so that more applications can be examined within the 12-month target. The administration has set itself a headline goal of 150 major planning decisions fast-tracked by the end of this Parliament.
Supporters say the combined effect could be felt most in the earliest months on site, where today’s bottlenecks often occur: permits to discharge or abstract groundwater for basement digs; waste positions for demolition arisings; flood-risk activity permissions near the Thames and tributaries; and multiple overlapping consents when utilities are diverted. If agencies share data and apply standard, risk-tiered rules, the argument goes, routine applications should clear faster and let contractors sequence works with more certainty.
Not everyone is convinced. A coalition of nature organisations has criticised the planning and infrastructure legislation as drafted, warning it “throws environmental protection to the wind” by trimming surveys and weakening habitat safeguards. Ministers insist the package will still meet Environment Act targets and point to stronger enforcement elsewhere — for example, new powers and automatic civil penalties for pollution incidents — as evidence that standards are not being diluted. The tension between pace and protection will be the defining test as the new system beds in.
What it means for London now: none of this is an overnight fix. The permitting changes are at consultation stage; the assessment regime needs secondary legislation; and the fast-track redesign must be translated into predictable practice at the Planning Inspectorate. But the direction of travel is clear. If the reforms land as promised, early-stage packages — site investigation, groundworks, temporary works — should face less paperwork and more standardised conditions, reducing holding costs on urban plots. If, however, guidance is vague or agencies remain under-resourced, developers may see little difference on the ground.
The political calculus is equally clear. The government has tied these changes to its pledge to deliver 1.5 million homes and accelerate critical infrastructure. Speeding safe enabling works in the capital — where construction costs and finance are already tight — is a logical place to start. The next six to twelve months, as consultations close and detailed regulations are published, will show whether London’s builders get the certainty they have been promised — and whether the city can build faster without backsliding on its environmental ambitions.
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